Introduction to the Bible

The inwardness at bottom the pass David R. Hayes Introduction to the watchword RELS311, persona B001 Win 13 Mark D. Wessner February 10, 2013 The Message within the Message Even kilobytegh some may say that in that respect is nonhing much to a yarn than what whiz may see and involve on the pages before them, I turn everyplace that some stories atomic number 18 more than undecomposed historic narratives. For example, in the point of David and whale I believe that the example David sets by his religious belief and trust in paragon to chip in some(prenominal) him and Israel the advantage against this dour foe as well as Davids words of wisdom to combat the jeopardize taunts from hulk argon more than meets the eye.In this paper, I int displace to dissect this modulation from the news by explaining where it is set, I leave hit the appropriates the literary room and characteristics of this passage, and I impart give a detailed and heedful interpretation of this passage by utilize the appropriate exe withdrawic semen near. The story of David and Goliath is found in the starting line hold in of Samuel which is located amid the book of pathos and the abet book of Samuel in the aged(prenominal) volition.This narrative encompasses the entire 17th chapter of this book and is do up of fifty-eight verses. The first book of Samuel is one of thirty-nine books that energize up the dopeon of the one sequence(a) testament, d avern from the Greek word kanon which heart a ruleor a measuring rod for measurement, and is part of the Christian tyrannical list of the books belonging to the Old Testament or modernistic Testament (Comfort, 2003, p. 51). In this case, it is part of the Old Testament canon.This narrative is just one of legion(predicate) that halt up over 40 per centum of the Old Testament which constitutes three-quarters of the bulk of the sacred scripture ( payment, 2003, p. 89). Be fonts the writings of Moses, a major(ip) prophet and author of the first basketb entirely team books of the Bible, in addition known as the Pentateuch, it is believed that laterward Moses and the an opposite(prenominal) prophets and prophetesses during his lifetime the great go forthbursts of premonitory activity began with Samuel and the arliest kind of writing in which they seem to permit engaged extensively was history, which afterwards became the basis of the books of Chronicles and probably of Samuel and Kings besides, which have so much material in common with Chronicles. (Comfort, 2003, p. 53) Additionally, it is noteworthy to point out that in Jewish tradition Samuel, Kings, the Minor Prophets, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles atomic number 18 each reckoned as a individual(a) book (Comfort, 2003, p. 57).The narrative begins with the gathering of twain armies the Philistines in Ephes-dammim and Israel on the other side of the Valley of Elah, which was in the midst of them, twain on mountains resolved by this valley (1 Samuel 171-3). Ephes-dammim, which is called Pas-dammin in the first book of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 1113), consequence boundary of blood which is believed to by chance have come from the deep rubor color of the newly plowed body politic in this location and may have presumptuousness origin to the idea of blood, just the location is not absolutely received (Masterman, n. . ). The Valley of Elah, on the other hand, is located just north of where the Philistine armies atomic number 18 believed to have gathitherd with, which most probable was, the dry creek cognise of the Wadi es-Sant dividing them from Sauls armies in the Judean mountains, though a more veracious description would be hills (Wilson, n. d. ). The valley amid them is a triangle-shaped flat valley, located on the western edge of the Judean low hills or Shepelah only in the rainy season does weewee flow in the creek bed rom the hills to the east to the Mediterranean on the west (Wil son, n. d. ). This narrative ends with the devastating exit of the Philistines champion, Goliath, followed by the massacre of the Philistine armies, and the victory of immortals chosen pile, the Israelites. This narrative, analogous all narratives, is a story which retells us a historical event which was pen by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is intend to give marrow and direction for a addicted people in the present (Fee, 2003, p. 0). Fee points out that the major difference between a biblical narrative and other narratives is that the story they tell is not so much our story as it is Gods storyand it becomes ours as He writes us into it (2003, p. 90). But similar all narratives it has three main characteristics characters, biz, and darn resolution (Fee, 2003, p. 90). The characters consist of protagonists (e. g. God), antagonists (e. g. Goliath), and agonists (e. g. David) (Fee, 2003, p. 90).The employment in this plot would be the imminent bout between the Ph ilistines and Israelites as well as the daily quarrel given to the Israelites by Goliath which subsequently leads to fear and inaction by Sauls armies. The plot resolution, or denouement, would be the devastating defeat of Goliath at the work force of David which r incessantlyses roles between the Philistines and Israelites, instills fear into the wagon of the Philistine armies, and completely overturns the expected subject of this battle.In the Bible most narratives ar also historical and/or biographical accounts and imply accounts in the following books of the Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jonah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts (literary genres , n. d. ). gramgh there are m all narratives in these books it does not mean that each book is strictly narratives or any other genre for that matter.One thing that confuse me was when Fee appears to contradict himself when first he states that narratives are intended to give convey and direction, just now later states that Old Testament narratives are not allegories or stories with hidden meanings, are not intended to teach moral lessons, and do not necessarily teach directly (2003, pp. 90,92). So which is it? This leads into the characteristics of Hebrew narratives the narrator, the scene(s), the characters, converse, plot, features of social organization and a terminal word (Fee, 2003, pp. 3-99). For this passage the narrator is Samuel, I believe, scarcely cannot be certain because later in this book his death is enter (1 Samuel 251). The scene is set most the Valley of Elah. The characters in the order they are mentioned are Goliath, King Saul, Jesse, Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, David, and Abner. The primary dialogue is between David and Goliath only if there is also a dialogue between David and Jesse, David and his brothers, David and King Sa ul, and King Saul with Abner.The plot starts off with the gathering of armies for battle which leads into the conflict presented by Goliaths challenge to the Israelite armies, the acceptance of this challenge by David, the slaying of Goliath by David, and the defeat of the Philistine armies. The feature of structure in this particular narrative is the repeat of the power and authority of God. This narrative, in my opinion, connects the dots from Davids anointment to be the next superpower of Israel to his mental hospital of his kingdom.Then, to even further define a narrative one can separate biblical narratives into three different take aims which creates a hierarchy of narratives (Fee, 2003, p. 91). The top, or third level, is often called the metanarrative and has to do with the whole universal plan of God worked out through His intromission, e. g. the creation and the fall of humanity (Fee, 2003, p. 91). The next, or act level, is the story of Gods redeeming a people for Hi s human body, e. g. he first and second covenant (Fee, 2003, p. 91). Finally, the last and first level is comprised of all the hundreds of individual narratives that chance on up the other twain levels, e. g. the individual narratives of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph) (Fee, 2003, p. 91). This covers the basics of a narrative, save to amply understand a narrative or passage the trainer essential take an exegesis approach to carefully and systematically submit the Scriptures to discover the original intended meaning (Fee, 2003, p. 3). The most authoritative part of exegesis is lettered what moves to ask while reading to retard the context, whether historical or literary, and the content (Fee, 2003, pp. 24-28). by and by taking an exegesis approach the reader must then take a hermeneutics approach which can include exegesis but in this case is referring to seeking the contemporary relevance of ancient texts (Fee, 2003, p. 29). Fee, however, says that thi s approach is much more difficult to define than the exegesis approach (2003, pp. 29-31).For either, you do not have to be an gifted but you must understand the meaning of a passage in credit entry to the meaning of the sentences or passages before and after it (Fee, 2003, p. 27). Fee points out that the most important contextual question you will ever ask, and it must be asked over and over of every sentence and every paragraph while reading is, Whats the point? (2003, p. 27). We must, however, understand that this question will vary from genre to genre, but it is always the crucial question emphasis added (Fee, 2003, p. 7). Interestingly, fit to Fee, Bible translations like the King jam Version and the New American prototype both are generally written in paragraph form which can interfere with the exegesis approach because it can sorry the authors own logic (2003, p. 28). It does not mean it is impossible but should definitely be accounted for when studying exegetically. F or my exegetical approach towards better understanding this passage I turned to the help of scuttlebutt from theologians like Matthew Henry and John branchia as well as a few other websites. consort to the rendering of Matthew Henry, the Philistines were setup in Israels territory, not their own, and this could have been out-of-pocket to the knowledge of Gods departing from Saul as king, the end of Samuel and Sauls relationship, and/or Sauls inability to be the king his people needed him to be (Henry, n. d). According to Josephus, in John Gills exposition of the Bible, this all occurred because the Philistines sensed weakness in Israel and see their chance to further expand their own territory not to mention the hazard for retribution for previous defeats at the detention of Israel (Gill, n. d. . I would have to agree with both suggestions as possible answers to the question, What is the point? , of this narrative. I believe, nonetheless, that the main point is that David was just a shepherd, but by Gods strength he was able to expect Israel out of the hands of the Philistines just as he had through in the past delivering sheep from his flock from a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 1734-37). Davids words are inspirational Thou comest to me with a vane, and with a spear, and with a racing shell but I come to thee in the name of the manufacturing business of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.This daylight will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the terra firma that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this congregation shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lords, and he will give you into our hands. (1 Samuel 1745-47)In this passage, when David proclaims the name, or shem, of the Lord he inv okes something like our power of attorney, where one person can act with the healthy authority of another therefore it really means to come with Yahwehs presence, power, authority, and divine appointment (Wilson, n. d. ). Just as Christians pray in Jesuss name David was claiming the victory over Goliath and the Philistines in the name of the Lord. David sets a great example of faith and obedience throughout this passage by trusting in God and by defending Gods reputation and glory.More importantly, he points out that the battle is still at last the Lords (Wilson, n. d. ). This is not the only example of the faith of David, a man after Gods own heart, or others similar to him in faith. Several examples of this uniform principle is reiterated time after time throughout scripture, e. g. 1 Samuel 146b 2 Chronicles 2015, 328 psalm 3316-18, 20, 446-8 Proverbs 2130-31 Hosea 17 Zechariah 46 Romans 831, 37 and 1 John 44 (Wilson, n. d. ).In conclusion, the majority of the Bible is made up of many narratives which are both historical and biographical that by Gods countless wisdom serve a function for us all today. There are those that would say that you should not read too deep into these narratives because what you read is what you get. There are others that distort these narratives to make them mean what they privation them to for their own ulterior motives. I, on the other hand, fall in between these two very different schools of thought.I believe that ultimately there is a message within the message that God wants us to understand, but without the right questions you will never get the right answers. I hope after reading this research paper that I have achieved my goals to dissect this passage from the Bible by explaining where it is located, to analyze the literary style and characteristics of this passage, and to give a detailed and paying attention interpretation of this passage by utilise the appropriate exegetical approach.In closing, I would like to quot e a very true, but enlightening just the same, statement that I came across while researching Even though we rely on the Spirit, we are not so foolish as to make no preparation. As St. Augustine once said, beseech as though everything depended on God. take to the woods as though everything depended on you. religion and preparation are not mutually exclusive. (Wilson, n. d. ). References Comfort, P. W. (2003). The origin of the Bible. Carol Stream, IL Tyndale hall Publishers. Fee, G. D. , Stuart, D. K. (2003).The Old Testament Narratives Their Proper Use. How to read the Bible for all its worth (3rd ed. , pp. 89-106). haughty Rapids, MI Zondervan. Gill, J. (n. d. ). John Gills exposition of the entire Bible. Freegrace. net. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http//www. freegrace. net/Gill/1_Samuel/1_Samuel_17. htm Henry, M. (n. d. ). Matthew Henry commentary on the whole Bible. Freegrace. net. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http//www. freegrace. net/ library/mhc/1 _samuel/ 17 . html Literary genres paper information with style (n. . ). Helpmewithbiblestudy. org. Retrieved February 9, 2013, from http//helpmewithbiblestudy. org/5Bible/HermComposingInformationWithStyle. aspx Masterman, E. W. G. (n. d. ). Ephes-dammim. BibleAtlas. org. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http//bibleatlas. org/ephes-dammim. htm The Scofield body of work Bible. (1945). New York Oxford University Press. Wilson, R. F. (n. d. ). David and Goliath Bold Faith. The JesusWalk Bible Study Series. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http//www. jesuswalk. com/david/02_david_goliath. htm